When a cargo ship docks at the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands’ sprawling gateway to global trade, the first responders aren’t humans—they’re sensor-studded gantry cranes. These machines, once ...

Gantry cranes are those large structures you see in shipyards that are used to unload shipping containers. But when they're sized down to more manageable proportions, the same mechanical principle can ...

Metals manufacturers use laser-guided sensors, PC-based control and a robust object-avoidance system to stack 20-ton metal coils almost entirely with automation. For this metal industry plant, the ...